City Parks

One of the ways that I think about the natural world and our daily lives is in the context of public outdoor spaces and wild lands. I wonder about the vitality of these places, if and how they are being used. So, on a rainy winter day I spread out a local map and begin ticking off the parks I’ve visited, surprised to have missed so many in the mid-sized city that I live in.

In the weeks that follow, I tramp through wetlands, survey playgrounds, and the follow trails, almost all built over old dumps. It takes a satisfyingly long time to work my way through the city’s wilds. And then, it doesn’t. Before the seasons even change my map tells me that my task is complete, I have seen the entirety of open spaces preserved by my community. I ask, is that all there is?

Tweets

Girl Gone Wild is an outdoor guide geared specifically towards women, their interests, needs, and perspective. More than that, Girl Gone Wild tells my story of becoming an outdoors woman from hiking, birding, and camping as a kid to backpacking the Grand Canyon as a geology graduate student and learning the real value of a good bed pad in my thirties. Girl Gone Wild does what other guide books do not; looks at the female outdoor experience as both unique and valid and provides information and stories tailored to fit our needs and interests.